Because special relativity does not apply, only general relativity does, and general relativity predicts that under certain circumstances space can dilate so rapidly that the separations between points in space exceed the speed of light. Since no matter or information makes this trip, special relativity is not actually violated. The inflationary process, if true, inflated the separations between points in space from a scale of 10^-28 centimeters to several centimeters in only 10^-34 seconds or so. This means the separations between particles increased at 6 x 10^34 centimeters/sec which is 10^24 times the speed of light. The horizons surrounding each point, however, continued to expand at the speed of light before and after this event so that after it was all over at 10^-34 seconds after the Big Bang, the visible universe was only 10^24 centimeters across, and has taken 15 billion years to become as large as it is today at the speed of light. But there is still plenty more space out there beyond our horizon thanks to the inflationary stage.